Everything like before. The Sunday that was supposed to direct the championship turns out to be interlocutory, in the light of the1-1 between Milan and Inter, but also of the one between Naples and Verona. And so the balance at the top of the standings remains unchanged, with the Azzurri and Rossoneri in first place on 32 points and the Nerazzurri third on 25. On balance, in short, on a day when nobody wins, the only ones who can really smile are the Pioli's men, who turn in their favor a shift which, on paper, saw them at a disadvantage compared to their competitors. Was a balanced derby that of San Siro, where the barrels all arrived in the first few minutes, and then went off slowly, with a draw that, all in all, was good for both.
In terms of points, Inter probably deserved more, but Milan had the merit of improving in the final, even coming close to scoring the coup. It all started after just 8', when Kessié landed Calhanoglu in the area, for the first penalty whistled by Doveri: the Turk went on the penalty spot who, regardless of the boos of his former fans, converted behind Tatarusanu, complete with a provocative exultation that infuriated the San Siro for AC Milan and also former teammates. A few minutes later, however, Milan equalized, propitiated by a free-kick from Tonali who De Vrij deflected into his goal, in an attempt to anticipate Tomori (17').
Finished twists? Not a chance. In the 27th minute Darmian bought Ballo-Touré's time, prompting Doveri to whistle for the second penalty of the evening: this time, however, he went Lautaro e Tatarusanu hypnotized him with a great parade, causing the Rossoneri people to explode. There the derby calmed down slightly, even if the two teams tried to win in every way. Inter did something more, coming close to scoring again with Lautaro, Barella and substitute Vidal, but Milan, after managing the Nerazzurri outburst, replied with Bennacer, Ibrahimovic and Saelemaekers, the latter author of a sure-fire post right at sunset of the match, on which Kessié replied by pulling out of a whisker.
“It was a complicated, difficult match, we suffered too much in the first 20′ of the second half – the analysis by Pioli – Inter are strong but we have shown that we are too, we have been courageous, even defensively. There was a reaction, we showed great desire to bring home a positive result”.
“The glass is half empty because we created so much and missed a penalty – the words of Inzaghi – We deserved more, but we faced an excellent team, such performances give us awareness of our strength. Against Juve and Milan we deserved to win, unfortunately the Rossoneri and Napoli are keeping an incredible pace, but there is time and margin to recover”.
True, also because the Azzurri, in the meantime, have missed the wonderful opportunity to escape, letting Tudor's Hellas stop them at Maradona. More once, just like last May 23, the Verona he was able to block Napoli at 1-1, even if this time, evidently, the collateral damage is enormously minor. However, the taste of the joke remains, because the Azzurri were unable to get the better of an opponent who was so tonic, but still inferior, who even finished with nine players in the final due to the expulsions of Bessa and Kalinic.
But the Scala family these days are tough opponents for everyone, especially due to the state of grace of Simeon, scored again with a very high school play, which killed Rrahmani and all of Maradona (13'). However, the scare did not last long, because Napoli immediately found an equalizer with Di Lorenzo (18'), before coming close to overtaking on several occasions, above all with Osimhen, only stopped by the post in Montipò.
"We played a good game overall, we could have been lucky in some episodes, there were five-six yellow cards and two expulsions," he explained. Spalletti – There was a lot of wasted time, but we have to admit that we didn't do our best. Fatigue may have had an impact, but I wouldn't always go to find alibis...".
No false step instead for the Lazio, who collects a more than convincing victory against Salernitana. The 3-0 of the Olimpico is worth fifth place in the standings, minus 1 behind Atalanta fourth and, more generally, a nice injection of confidence for a team that has rediscovered, finally in tune with its coach's technical project. The match was directed by the minutes from 31' to 36', when the biancocelesti found the opening goal with Immobile (31') and the doubling with Pedro (36'). From then on, despite Salernitana's reaction (Djuric's crossbar and Ribery's post shortly after), there was no match, so much so that Sarri's team even made it 3-0 with Luis Alberto (66') , thus fixing the final result.
"Finally after an advantage we continued to play, with a much more proactive attitude than other times - exulted the Lazio coach - We never stopped and continued to play the game, now we have to understand if the last four games are a momentary reaction or is it really a change of mentality”.
Instead, the moment no of the continues Roma, also defeated a Venezia and forced to deal with a general discontent which, for the first time since his arrival, also affects Mourinho. Expectations were very high and instead the Giallorossi, at least for now, have remained the same as last season, when they alternated good results with truly sensational slip-ups.
Not even the Special One is managing to change inertia, although it is trying in every way: yesterday it revolutionized the classic 4-2-3-1 by virtue of a completely new 3-4-2-1, with Shomurodov and El Shaarawy to support Abraham and two big names like Zaniolo and Mkhitaryan on the bench. However, the move didn't work, because if it is true that the Giallorossi scored two goals with his forwards (43' Shomurodov, 45+2' Abraham), it is also true that he conceded numerous chances to Venezia, ending up conceding three goals (Caldara 3', Aramu on penalty 65', Okereke 74') and thus lose the game, despite the advantage at the interval.
“We had a great offensive game and it's unbelievable that we only scored two goals – the bitter comment of Mou – I can't comment on their second goal (the dubious penalty of 2-2, ed), but it came at an important moment in the match. Maybe one day I will understand certain episodes, they are hidden things that maybe will be understood after years…”.
The championship is now on file for two weeks, in which attention will shift to Mancini's Italy, called to win qualification for the World Cup with Switzerland and Northern Ireland. A nice breath of fresh air for everyone, before the tour de force between November and December which, inevitably, will guide a good part of the season.
